


sleepwalking down the hall (like a firefly in the fog)

by loverloverlover



Category: Addicted Series - Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie, Calloway Sisters - Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie, Like Us Series - Krista Ritchie & Becca Ritchie
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Sleepwalking, brief bed sharing, vague mentions of ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25480474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loverloverlover/pseuds/loverloverlover
Summary: Donnelly sleepwalks, and even unconscious, there's only one person he wants to seek out.
Relationships: Lily Calloway/Loren Hale, Luna Hale/Paul Donnelly
Kudos: 13
Collections: the lunnelly diaries





	sleepwalking down the hall (like a firefly in the fog)

**Author's Note:**

> title is a ben weaver quote; and fair warning, this is more than a lot self-indulgent, and the title suggests more sophistication than it likely possesses sjkds
> 
> enjoy anyway :)

Luna was sprawled across one leg of the soft leather sectional in the living room of her new Philly penthouse. Her head and shoulders were hanging upside down off of the edge of it, her brown hair grazing the floor and one of her legs pointing towards the sky against the back of the couch. Her gaze was partway fixed upon the wall of floor-length windows—leading to their deck and pool, and the view that she still couldn’t quite believe she looked out over every day—and her mom and dad, who were seated next to the armrest on the other leg of the sectional. Lily Hale’s legs were thrown over her husband’s lap, and there had been more than a few snide remarks spilled from Loren Hale’s lips—so all was normal and well.

The sun had set a while ago—its’ warm glow completely faded from the city’s skyline—but Luna’s parents were still here. Luna was happy for this fact, though, since this was the first time that she’d been able to sit down with her mom and dad, just to talk, since she’d moved into the apartment and out of her childhood home—for the second time. It was just the three of them in the living room, but that wasn’t to say that they were the only three in the apartment. Moffy and Farrow were in Ripley’s nursery, trying to settle the baby after a long day, and she could hear the low murmur of their voices as they tried to soothe their child. Sulli was holed up in her room on a Facetime call with her dad—Uncle Ryke was in South America for a climb, but Sulli hadn’t been able to go with him this time for reasons the older girl had yet to disclose. The last two occupants of the apartment—Thatcher and Jane—were the only ones not present, though it _was_ a Wednesday.

Luna’s conversation with her parents had, after three hours, finally hit a lull—not an uncomfortable lull, they were just tired and out of topics—when the penthouse elevator dinged its arrival. Her first thought was that it was Thatcher and Jane returning early from their Cobalt dinner, but instead, it was Paul Donnelly whom Luna and her parents watched shuffle out of the elevator. She figured that he was here to see Farrow. Donnelly knew her parents were supposed to be here visiting her, so the likelihood that he was here for her was close to nil—especially after her father’s discovery of her newest tattoo (she hated to think how her dad would act if he actually knew _where_ the tattoo was).

Though when Donnelly didn’t immediately call out for his best friend _or_ acknowledge the trio in the living room, Luna cocked her head in his direction. Maybe all the blood rushing to her brain had… she didn’t know, messed something up, but something seemed off about him.

Luna clawed her way back onto the couch so she could look at him properly. Donnelly was walking weird—slow and stumble-y and not all like his usual confident gait. He was also sleep rumpled—adorably sleep rumpled, she might add, where his hair was sticking up at odd angles. His t-shirt was mussed and wrinkled, and he was wearing the softest sweatpants he owned—which Luna knew because she stole them from him every chance she got.

“Donnelly?” Luna inquired softly. She could _feel_ her parent’s eyes on her as she called out to him, though her mother had her head curiously tilted towards Donnelly.

Donnelly didn’t respond to Luna, he just continued to shuffle in the direction of the hallway that housed Luna and Sulli’s bedrooms.

“He’s asleep, Luna,” her mom muttered. “Daisy used to do this when she was your age, Lu.”

Luna, who had looked to her mom when she’d spoken, hopped up and walked towards Donnelly—but not before asking one of her parents to grab Farrow. Farrow would know what to do, he always did. Luna approached Donnelly slowly. Her aunt Daisy had told her a couple stories about her sleepwalking days, and the specific times where her episodes were worse than usual. How the few times that uncle Ryke had accidently woken her up while he was attempting to put her back to bed, had been disorienting and scary.

“Donnelly,” she whispered again, standing in front of him now. Her dad had gotten to his feet as well, and Luna knew he was watching the two of them intently—his eyes like firebrands on her back.

Donnelly hadn’t stopped moving towards the hallway since he’d set his sights— _could he see?_ she wondered—on his destination, but he was moving at a snail’s pace. As Luna looked up into his handsome face—there were two cute sleep-lines on his left cheek—any doubt she may have had that he was faking would’ve disappeared at the sight of his vacant expression and unfocused, drowsy blue eyes. He was gazing somewhere over her shoulder, but she knew he wasn’t actually focusing on anything.

“Paul?” she murmured, though this inquiry was more for herself than in any attempt to get his attention. Luna reached out and lightly grasped both of his arms as she walked backwards in front of him. She gently steered him out of the way of a barstool and kicked one of the dogs’ toys out of their footpath. Still, he didn’t wake.

Not two seconds later—after the dog toy hit the side of the couch with a tiny squeak—Farrow came into view over Donnelly’s shoulder.

“What do we do?” Luna whispered to him.

“Just let him go where he needs to go.” Farrow shrugged as he reached out to hover his hands by Donnelly’s biceps—Luna let Farrow steady him and she impulsively clasped his hands. When she made this contact, he made a few incoherent mumbling noises.

Farrow’s attitude about the whole situation made her think that Donnelly had done this before. With a seemingly new burst of speed, Donnelly took a few quick steps and finally made it into the hallway itself. Once there, he swayed alarmingly to his left, but Farrow steadied him. His head dipped down and Luna was close enough to him for his forehead to rest on hers. There were five seconds of her thinking it was the cutest thing he’d ever done—which it was—before she remembered her parents were watching, and Luna had to step out from under him.

Both Luna and Farrow seemed to realize his destination at the same time—really, it was a wonder that it hadn’t occurred to her the moment he headed this direction. Luna was stiff as a board, all too aware of her parent’s presence, but Farrow gave her an encouraging nod—what she _thought_ was an encouraging nod, at least—so she kept leading Donnelly. A few sways to the left later, and a quiet mumble that sounded distinctly like her name, Luna turned through her open bedroom door and led him in. He took a few more big steps before curling gently up into a ball on her bed—atop all the covers.

Before she could move to do it, Farrow grabbed a star-printed throw blanket off her beanbag chair and spread it over Donnelly’s sleeping form. Farrow being in the room, and being the one to cover Donnelly, dulled the intimacy that would’ve otherwise permeated the atmosphere. Even so, when Farrow turned towards the door, Luna had to force herself to stop gazing at Donnelly’s sleeping features—to stop _admiring_ his sleeping features—and follow her brother-in-law back into the hallway. Luna’s parents had followed them all the way to the threshold of her bedroom door, but after a quick glance between Luna and Farrow, they both led the way back to the living room.

“Is he okay?” was the first thing that Luna’s mom asked. Lily Hale was wringing her hands in front of her chest as she asked, and she was staring down the hallway at the closed bedroom door they had just come from. The woman had always been such a _mom_ to Luna—in every sense of the word—and that maternal concern carried over the men on Security, especially those who were Farrow’s age or younger.

“He’s probably had a bad day,” Farrow admitted.

Her father hadn’t said a single word since Donnelly walked in, but looking at his carefully blank expression now, Luna wasn’t entirely sure she _wanted_ him to say anything.

“Does he do this often?” Luna asked Farrow, deciding to ignore her father.

Farrow looked like he wasn’t too keen on divulging any of Donnelly’s secrets, but Luna was deathly curious—as she was about all things concerning Paul Donnelly. She was also deathly concerned, as she knew her aunt’s sleepwalking had stemmed from her post-traumatic stress.

“No?” Farrow said, though he phrased it was if he wasn’t sure of his answer. “He doesn’t sleepwalk all the time, but once he _does,_ he’ll likely do it for at least a week before it simmers out again. It comes in bouts—mostly stress related.”

Her dad had a stony expression on his face—more granite-like than usual—as he glared down the hallway where Donnelly lay sleeping. _Good gods, my_ bedroom, Luna internally groaned. _What must he think?_ Obviously he was thinking the worst, and that made Luna more nervous than she had ever been in her life. Farrow must have caught on to her father’s silent disapproval and her own silent anxiety, and she was beyond grateful that he was amazing at reading situations as he added to his previous statement.

“I can’t tell you the number of times he’s sleepwalked into my bed in the past,” Farrow admitted. Whether or not it was true, Luna was grateful for him saying it. “I’m assuming you chatted with him earlier today?” he asked Luna.

“Yeah.” Luna furrowed her brows. “We talked about” –she glanced quickly to her parents– “a-about his mom earlier. You missed a call.”

“And he _answered?”_ Farrow asked incredulously.

Donnelly had told her that Farrow usually took the calls that his dad made from prison, but today’s call had been unexpected and Donnelly had been ill-prepared. He’d called Luna right after and asked her to talk—to fill the silence and cover the unpleasant thoughts that were racing through his head. So she’d just talked—talked about her latest fanfiction and the adorable trick she’d just managed to teach Orion—and he’d just listened.

Before Luna could answer, her dad asked, “Call?”

“When his mom or dad call from prison, I’m the one that talks to them,” Farrow said to her parents. “It’s not good for him to take the calls, but I can’t quite convince him to cut the bastards off completely.” She knew that her parents were aware of the fate of Donnelly’s parents—being as they approved his hire to security and all—but seeing them completely unfazed by this was a different story.

“If he’s talked to Luna about all this shit last, then it explains why he sought her out while he was unconscious,” Farrow added. Luna, well aware that this was the biggest fucking lie yet, was beyond grateful when her mom began nodding thoughtfully. Her father’s expressions didn’t change, but that wasn’t saying much. Farrow continued, “He’ll wake up in two hours tops and not know where the hell he is. We can video his confusion if you need a good laugh.”

Farrow’s attempt at lightening the mood worked, and her parents both smiled—albeit her dads’ was still a little forced. Luna forced a smile too, because the idea of Donnelly being afraid when he woke up was anything _but_ amusing. It became her top priority to get her parents out of the apartment so she could join Donnelly in her bed as soon as possible. Farrow might be pulling the idea of Donnelly’s confusion out of his ass, but if he wasn’t, then Luna being there when he woke up would likely ease Donnelly’s mind.

But she also knew that if she moved too quickly in her attempts to corral her parents into the elevator, her dad would flat out refuse to leave and likely even march back down the hallway to drag Donnelly out of the apartment by his ear. But her mom solved all these problems before they could even properly present himself.

“Well, we have to go and make sure that Kinney is actually asleep,” Lily said before pulling Luna close and giving her a long goodbye hug. “She promised us she would be, but she also promised to start doing the dishes.”

Luna laughed lightly and moved to give both her parents hugs. It took another five minutes for the pair of them to get their shoes and get in their last tidbits of conversations, but eventually they were in the elevator and headed to their car. She expected Farrow to say something to her, but he just placed his hand on her shoulder for a few seconds before heading back to his husband and baby. Luna exhaled heavily and hurried towards her own bedroom.

She pushed open the door quietly and shed her jeans on the way to her bed. She slid under the covers as gently as she could and scooted closer to Donnelly. He was still completely asleep, but as soon as her legs made contact with his, his arms wrapped around her and pulled her into his chest. They relaxed into each other’s embrace, and Luna felt compelled to say his name.

“Paul?” she whispered again.

“Mhm?” he mumbled in acknowledgement. “Tired. Sleep, babe.”

So she just smiled and closed her eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> i had this idea floating around in my head for a while, and i even had a little drabble written. THEN charming like us came out and, lo and behold, Donnelly sleepwalked in it. AND not only did he sleepwalk, he sleep- _talked_ about luna. so of course i had to actually write this. 
> 
> in all honesty, this could've been better but i don't give a shit. i hope y'all like it because i enjoyed writing it. kudos and reviews are welcome, thanks everyone :))


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